In a rapidly changing world, Canada is setting a new course. We are building our strength at home, diversifying our trading relationships abroad, and investing in the infrastructure that will secure our future. From the ports and corridors that move Canadian goods to market, to the ships that keep our trade routes open, we are laying the foundations of a stronger, more self-reliant country.
Established trading relationships are being tested, and Canada is not standing still. We are moving fast, seizing new opportunities, and reducing our dependence on any single partner.
That is why the Prime Minister, Mark Carney, today announced the largest shipbuilding contract in Québec’s history. The Government of Canada will invest more than $11 billion to build six new program icebreakers for the Canadian Coast Guard in partnership with Chantier Davie Canada Inc. This historic investment grows Canada’s domestic shipbuilding industry, strengthens our ability to keep critical trade routes open, and reinforces our strategic autonomy.
All six icebreakers will be built in Canada at the Davie Shipyard in Lévis, Québec, creating nearly 5,000 good jobs in the construction phase alone and contributing nearly $650 million annually to Canada’s GDP. Under the government’s Buy Canadian Policy, these vessels will be built with Canadian steel and other domestic materials, while maximising opportunities for Canadian manufacturers, suppliers, and small and medium-sized businesses.
The program icebreakers will replace the Coast Guard’s aging heavy and medium icebreakers – the ships that work Atlantic Canada and the St. Lawrence through the depth of winter, and the Arctic through the summer season. They cut open our most vital sea lanes, answer the call of ships in distress, and come to the aid of vessels trapped in the ice.
This investment will equip the women and men of the Canadian Coast Guard – the civilian service Canadians count on to keep our waters safe – with the modern ships they need to answer the call, from search and rescue to environmental response, for decades to come. Additionally, it secures Canada’s position as the home of NATO’s largest icebreaking fleet, bolsters national security in the North, and protects Canadian interests. Construction will begin in 2027, this first ship will be ready five years later, and the full fleet will be in service by 2038.
Canada’s new government is laser-focused on building a stronger, more independent, more resilient Canadian economy that drives prosperity for all. This is our economic strategy at work. We are expanding the Port of Montréal at Contrecœur and the Port of Québec to move more Canadian products to global markets. And we are using major federal procurement, from armoured vehicles to submarines and icebreakers, to build Canadian industrial capacity, strengthen domestic supply chains, and create high-paying careers here at home.
Canada is a trading nation with the world’s longest coastline. Today, we are strengthening our capacity to build ships at home, assert our presence in the Arctic, keep our waterways open, and move Canadian resources to new markets around the world.
Quotes
“Canada is now the best-connected economy in the world. Canada is building such unparalleled market access because we are trusted, reliable, and have what the world wants. These six state-of-the-art icebreakers will keep the trade routes that carry Canadian goods to the world accessible and secure. Built in Lévis by Canadian workers, they are a lasting investment in a stronger, more self-reliant Canada.”
The Rt. Hon. Mark Carney, Prime Minister of Canada
“Canada’s economic security and national sovereignty depend on our ability to keep our waters open, secure, and moving. These six new icebreakers will keep Canadian trade flowing, strengthen our presence in the Arctic, and give the Coast Guard the capability it needs for decades to come. Built here in Lévis, by Canadian workers and with Canadian steel, they are an investment in our sovereignty, our industrial strength, and our future.”
The Hon. David J. McGuinty, Minister of National Defence
“As we shore up our economic sovereignty in a more unpredictable world, Canada continues to rely on trusted industrial partners like Chantier Davie. Their skilled workers here in Lévis are valued partners to the Government of Canada and have proven integral to the success of our Defence Industrial Strategy. Today’s announcement of a contract for six program icebreakers builds on their strong record and will bring good-paying jobs throughout the supply chain, translating into real economic benefits in Québec and across the country. The vessels themselves will secure our extensive coastlines and waterways, and contribute to a strong, sovereign Canada, long into the future.”
The Hon. Joël Lightbound, Minister of Government Transformation, Public Works and Procurement and Québec Lieutenant
Quick facts
Chantier Davie plays a critical role in supporting Canada’s fleets, building, repairing, and maintaining ships for the Canadian Coast Guard (CCG) and the Royal Canadian Navy through more than $7.74 billion in contracts since 2012
As Polar Class 3 icebreakers, the program icebreakers will be designed as modern, versatile vessels capable of carrying a wide range of missions in challenging ice conditions across Canada’s waterways. They will form the next generation of Arctic capable ships, supporting growing operational demands in the North, from search and rescue and environmental response, to Northern resupply and Arctic science missions.
In 2019, the Government of Canada announced it would be procuring six new program icebreakers under the National Shipbuilding Strategy, as part of the CCG fleet renewal.
In 2024, the government awarded Chantier Davie a $19.6-million contract to begin initial design work for six new program icebreakers for the CCG.
In 2025, the Government of Canada awarded a $3.25 billion contract (before tax) to Chantier Davie for the construction of the Polar Max, which will be one of the most powerful and capable heavy icebreakers in the world.
In 2024, the Government of Canada signed the Icebreaker Collaboration Effort Pact with the United States and Finland to strengthen cooperation on the design, construction, and maintenance of Arctic and polar icebreakers, including through information sharing, workforce development, and joint research and development.
Noah Note: Colour me a bit surprised. This one felt like it came from nowhere, not that it wasn't coming soon, but it feels it just sorta happened. Of course a contract for the Programs has been sitting for a while in anguish, waiting to be picked up on by the feds. A previous contract from last year for initial work has some confused it seems. That wasnt the commitment for six, this is.
Either way, we have commitment now to six Program Icebreakers. While that was always the plan, a plan isnt a commitment until its in writing. This secures that finally, so no more room to speculate on what that final number might be. Of course, a pick-me-up after the weekend, including an announcement that can play into sovereignty and trade, isnt entirely unexpected in itself. I suspect thia was moced up a bit to play counter to that news.
Similarly I do always love acknowledging the planned largest Icebreaker fleet in NATO. Icebreaker itself as a deaignation is a real thing though, and what counts as an Icebreaker is… contentious to some. These are certainly Icebreakers, im not here to argue that, but it is a note I make when discussing numbers. Ice-Strengthened, Polar Rating does not equal an Icebreaker.
The Program themselves will be very capable vessels, supplementing the future bulk of the fleet in the MPI and the future Arpatuuq and Imnaryuaq. 20,000 nm range at 11 knots without refuelling, accommodation for up to 68 crew and program personnel, hangar and maintenance capacity for one medium CCG helicopter, and significant general and containerized cargo capacity.
They'll be excellent additions to the fleet when they come online, and that is honestly the really big thing about the story here. There is a pretty set timeline here, first delivery by 2032 and final by 2038. Essentially one delivered per year starting 2032. That alone is an insame timeline for most, least of all Levis in the midst of both modernization and their major peoject.
That is essentially the whole fleet delivered within the next decade, which would downright be one of the fastest shipbuilding timelines we have had from contract to final delivery, for a class of six vessels seemingly without much major support from Helsinki. That is a monumental task to ask of almost anyone really, but one I hope to see Davie rise to the challenge for.
That isnt small. It would certainly be a proving ground moment for the comoany if they can pull it off. Won't be easy, certainly.
Hmmmm this will now keep Davie busy which means Ontario Shipyards will probably race for that CDC contract